TONIC – Lemon Parade (1996 Polygram)
“If You Could Only See” was both the song the put Tonic on the map, and the one that put the bullet in their career. If you’re over a certain age, you remember the powerful and tasteful ballad from when it hit the charts in 1997. I had the album already. I bought it when it first came out, after reading a glowing review in the local paper and seeing a used copy pop in at the Record Store. Finding Jack Joseph Puig’s name in the producer credits got my attention too.
Tonic’s debut Lemon Parade is a great sounding CD, thanks to Puig and the richly arranged guitars of Emerson Hart and Jeff Russo. When the guitars are center stage, all is well. The opening duo of “Open Up Your Eyes” and “Casual Affair” have the punch that people don’t always associate with Tonic. These guys could play. “Casual Affair” in particular has angst and emotion ripping out of those six-strings. When they get heavy, like on “Wicked Soldier”, there is always something bright and chiming going on with backing guitars. Check out “Celtic Aggression” for a fine example of their guitar expertise. Emerson Hart has an emotive voice, whether rocking out or serenading the ballads.
It’s the ballads the people remember, and you have to admit that when you break it down, “If You Could Only See” is a fantastic song. Layers of chiming, chugging and sliding guitars are right there beneath the core melodies. On the mandolin-infused “Mountain”, plus “Soldier’s Daughter” and “Lemon Parade”, you can absolutely hear old-tyme southern influences creeping through. Tonic have traits that sound as if from another era, in many ways. These are actually quite great songs, largely forgotten because of that one hit.
There are only a few songs that don’t score top marks: “Thick” (no hooks), “Mr. Golden Deal” & “My Old Man” (both too sleepy). The rest is pretty solid.
3.5/5 stars
mikeladano.com 
There’s an acoustic version of ‘If You Could Only See’ that I hear on the radio every now and again and the guitar playing just blows me away. When it’s stripped down to just the basic riffs and vocals it’s easy to hear how great of a song it is.
But it’s still not so great that I ever need to hear it again. I have flashbacks of this song.
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I have that version on a compilation I can’t recall. One of the “Now” CDs. There’s also an acoustic. There is also a great acoustic video for Open Up Your Eyes with the band on scooters wearing tuxedo t shirts!
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I remember you favourably reviewed another Tonic album a while ago Mike – nice to hear they’ve got several songs worth hearing!
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These are the two albums to get! The third one was too commercial (though I need to re-listed) and I never got the fourth.
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Sounds like high school!
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You’re a young one then :)
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Nice one! I have been a fan for awhile. I even have some Emerson Hart solo stuff as well.
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Cool song, I am intrigued.
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Cool! You haven’t heard these guys before?
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No for many reasons, I was away from the music scene throughout the 90s.
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Oooft. I mind you reviewing another album a while back. Never investigated further, but I was very close to buying this off Amazon for £1.27 (including postage). Glad I didn’t!Oooft. I was very close to buying this on CD from Amazon for £1.27 (including postage). Glad I didn’t, as I expect at least a 4 for that kind of hard cash! 😉
Anyhoo, both are still sitting in my basket awaiting purchase. CDs are back, baby!
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HAHAHAH I wasn’t sure where this comment was going as I read!
I hope you like it, but at least I’m not costing you too much money if you don’t!
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There’s bound to be at least a couple of things there to make any purchase worthwhile!
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I think I can say that about any place I shop for CDs!
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I still have this CD from back in the day. Love it! You’re right, that one track was played too much (there was even an ‘unplugged’-style version, wasn’t there?), but there’s a ton of gold on the rest of the record.
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